East Saharan montane xeric woodlands
Encyclopedia
Location and description
The ecoregion covers the higher elevations of the Ennedi PlateauEnnedi Plateau
The Ennedi Plateau, located in the North-East of Chad, in the Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region, is a sandstone bulwark in the middle of the Sahara. It is assailed by the sands on all sides, that encroach the deep valleys of the Ennedi...
and the Ouaddaï Highlands
Ouaddaï highlands
Ouaddaï Highlands is an area in east of Chad along the border with Sudan. The Ennedi Plateau and the Ouaddaï highlands in the east of Chad complete the image of a gradually sloping basin, which descends towards Lake Chad...
of eastern Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
and the extinct volcano system Jebel Marra in Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
, western Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. These mountain ranges rise above the semi-desert sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
ian Acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The ecoregion covers an area of 27900 square kilometres (10,772.3 sq mi). The summer rains are irregular, even more so in Chad than on Jebel Marra, which has two crater lakes.
Flora
Plant life includes many species typical of the sahel belt including Ammania gracilisAmmania gracilis
Ammannia gracilis is a plant in the family Lythraceae, also known by the common names large ammannia, red ammannia, pink ammannia, and delicate ammania, and is native to West Africa....
, the grass Panicum laetum, the forb
Forb
A forb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid . The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory.-Etymology:...
Chrozophora brocchiana and the herbs Farsetia
Farsetia
Farsetia is a genus of flowering plant in the Brassicaceae family.It contains the following species:*Farsetia aegyptia Turra*Farsetia cornus-africani Jonsell*Farsetia divaricata Jonsell*Farsetia ellenbeckii Engl....
stenoptera, Indigofera senegalensis and Tephrosia gracilipes. One classic element of the natural flora was Lapperine's Olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
(olea europaea laperrinei).
Fauna
Water from mountain streams makes the area an important habitat for wildlife such as a numbered of threatened antelopeAntelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
species such as addax
Addax
The Addax , also known as the screwhorn antelope, is a critically endangered species of antelope that lives in the Sahara desert. As suggested by its alternative name, this pale antelope has long, twisted horns. It is closely related to the oryx, but differs from other antelopes by having large...
(Addax nasomaculatus), Dama gazelle
Dama Gazelle
The Dama Gazelle is a species of gazelle. It lives in Africa in the Sahara desert and migrates south in search of food during the dry season. Their habitat includes open steppes, bushy, grassy steppes, semi-desert, and deserts, while their diet includes grasses, leaves, shoots, fruit, and...
(Gazella dama), Dorcas gazelle
Dorcas Gazelle
The Dorcas Gazelle , also known as the Ariel Gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. The Dorcas Gazelle stands approximately 55-65 cm . Dorcas gazelle have a head and body length of 90-110 cm and a weight of 15-20 kg...
(Gazella dorcas) and Red-fronted gazelle
Red-fronted Gazelle
The Red-fronted gazelle is a species of gazelle that is widely but unevenly distributed across the middle Africa from Senegal to north-eastern Ethiopia. It is mainly resident in the Sahel zone, a narrow cross-Africa band south of the Sahara, where it prefers arid grasslands, wooded savannas and...
(Gazella rufifrons). Endemic species include the Arid Thicket Rat (Grammomys aridulus) from Jebel Marra. The mountains are home to birds of both Eurasia and Africa, species include Nubian bustard (Neotis nuba) and Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus).